Friday, May 02, 2014

Brunei has begun to implement a new Sharia-based penal code that will soon impose death by stoning as a possible punishment for crimes including rape, adultery, and same-sex activity.

The first phase, enacted Thursday, carries fines and jail time for offenses such as missing Friday prayers, having a baby outside of wedlock, propagating religions other than Islam, and engaging in indecent behavior. But more draconian measures are on the way – including flogging and amputation of limbs for heavier crimes. The final phase, which allows stoning as a possible punishment for sodomy, will begin in 2015.

Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who is also the prime minister, called the law a “great achievement” for the Southeast Asian country.

As Amnesty International points out, that "great achievement" also violates fundamental human rights protections, including freedom of conscience, thought and religion and the prohibition against torture and cruel and unusual punishment. It also imposes the death penalty for private sexual relations between consenting adults - something which shouldn't be a crime at all.